I drink a little, eat a lot, work out even more, and talk too much about all of it.

Food

I love hummus. It’s great with carrots. It’s great with pretzels. It’s great as a sandwich spread. It’s all around wonderful, but it’s also kinda expensive, given the quantities I’m liable to consume in any given sitting. When I think about the amount of money I’ve spent and the number of plastic tubs I’ve thrown in the recycling bin, a little part of me dies. Assuming $4.00 per tub × 2-3 tubs per week × 52 weeks/year, that’s $600+ each year. Why was I buying this stuff pre-made?!

For one, I didn’t realize how easy hummus is to make. You basically just dump a can of chickpeas and some spices into a food processor and blend until smooth. Don’t have a food processor? No problem; use a blender. Don’t have one of those? Use a stick blender. Don’t have one of those? Sorry, can’t help you, but I can assure you that it will pay for itself after only 10-15 batches of this stuff. This recipe makes two pounds and costs less than $2. Just do the math!

Okay, so there’s a little bit more to it than just dumping the whole can in and processing, but not much. Since I doubt you’d be reading this if you wanted to experiment on your own, here’s how I do it, as precisely as possible (because cooking is more art than science).

I don’t like beer. I never have. But I needed beer for a party that The Missus and I were throwing, so I found myself in Dominion Wine & Beer asking the knowledgable clerks what I should buy. One of them spoke about Sweet Baby Jesus! as though it was dessert in a bottle: decadent, creamy, sweet, rich. Basically, the perfect beer for people who don’t like beer.

I’d seen Sweet Baby Jesus before, but I didn’t know that it was a Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter (whatever that is); I just thought it had a great name. So after hearing the description and seeing that the store had but one single bottle available in their mix-and-match case, I decided to give it a shot.

I still don’t like beer. Not even this one. I also don’t like being wasteful, so put my noggin to work and tried to figure out what I could do with the leftovers. It didn’t take long to think of cupcakes. I mean, it’s not as though I can make my own Reese’s Cups, at least not with beer. Any how, I broke out my baker’s spreadsheet, pulled up the cupcake tab, and got to tinkering. The result was an incredibly rich but not terribly sweet chocolate cake with just a hint of peanut butter flavor. Just a hint of peanut butter just won’t do. Peanut butter frosting to the rescue!

The end product was guinea pigged by guests at my housewarming party. Bold decision or calculated risk? Regardless, they were a hit! A bunch of guests asked for (demanded, even) the recipe. Hence the rush to write this, despite a paucity of photos. So without further ado, here’s the recipe.

Sweet Baby Jesus! Cupcakes

Ingredients

Makes one dozen jumbo cupcakes or 18 regular cupcakes

Cake

3/4 cup (1 & 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup cocoa powder

3/4 cup Sweet Baby Jesus!, room temperature, flat

2 large eggs, room temperature

1/2 cup sour cream (full fat), room temperature

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Simple syrup (optional, for brushing)

Frosting

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1-1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted to remove lumps

1 tablespoon milk (optional, for thicker frosting)

Miniature Reese’s cups (optional, for decorating)

Instructions

In a medium bowl, whisk together melted butter and cocoa powder until smooth.

Whisk Sweet Baby Jesus into butter–cocoa mixture.

Using an electric mixer (I prefer my KitchenAid, but a hand mixer will do), beat the eggs and sour cream on medium speed until completely free of lumps.

Add in the cooled chocolate mixture and blend on low speed until just combined.

Whisk together dry ingredients and add to the mixer. Beat on medium-low speed until just combined, scraping down the bowl at least once.

Divide batter evenly among baking cups, filling each about two-thirds. Don’t overfill or you’ll end up with muffins that won’t frost easily!

Bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center cupcake comes out clean. Unless you know that your oven heats evenly, rotate the trays once during baking.

Allow to cool on a wire rack, then brush the tops with simple syrup to lock in moisture.

While the cupcakes are cooling, prepare the frosting as follows.

With an electric mixer, beat butter and peanut butter on medium speed until fully combined.

Gradually add sugar and beat until smooth, scraping sides of bowl as necessary.

Beat in milk if desired.

If you get any frosting on your hands, try not to lick your fingers (unless you’ll wash them before handling the cupcakes)

When it’s time to frost the cupcakes, don’t go overboard. The frosting is even richer than the cake, and too much of it makes for an imbalanced treat. I frosted just to the brim of the baking cup, then perched a mini Reese’s cup on top for good measure.

I hope you like them as much as my guests did. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments, and don’t be afraid to share!

To lamely paraphrase lame philosophers everywhere, “when a snow day falls on a holiday, is it really a snow day?” Regardless of how you choose to answer that question, when it happens, I feel like we should get the following day off, just for good measure. Who’s with me?! Yes, Monday was President’s Day, and we in the DC area awoke to a couple inches of snow and the prospect of not being able to go anywhere because no one in this area knows how to drive in moderately inclement weather. At least it wasn’t another Snowzilla.

Life

Would you believe it if I told you that we had more projects to do around the house? This time, repainting and wallpapering a bathroom. On that subject, when you move a washing machine to paint behind it, is that OCD or just being thorough? Regardless, attention to detail is important, amiright?

Booze

Our halfhearted plans for a Grammy Awards drinking game were basically put to rest by the paucity of awards actually given out during the broadcast. Looking up who won this or that award before the ceremonies is decidedly anticlimactic and would also lead to consuming large quantities of alcohol very quickly, which was never the intent. So instead, just good whisky for me during that glorified music festival.

Yamazaki 18 Japanese Single Malt Whisky

While the Grammy festival may have been a dud, our own housewarming party was a resounding success. We made a batched cocktail inspired by this gin-elderflower-strawberry concoction that was so popular it required a second batch. Recipe coming soon!

Food

One pot chicken lo mein might just have the best flavor-to-difficulty ratio of anything we’ve ever made. Just throw everything in a pot and wait? It’s a veritable epiphany! What’s more, the concept is so versatile that it’s sure to be the basis of many meals and recipes to come.

A party at our place means baked goods, and even though most of our guests were unaware of that, I couldn’t let them down. To that end, oatmeal raisin cookies and a brand new cupcake creation. And let’s not forget the homemade hummus, a charcuterie spread, and chili lime drumsticks.

Fitness

After suffering from serious fatigue issues a few times recently, I decided it was time to change up my routine a bit. I didn’t so much change what I was doing as the order in which I was doing it, building in more recovery time between hard efforts and worrying less about “filler” workouts. It largely paid off. I hit a recent squat PR, and I continue to get faster on interval and tempo runs. My long run didn’t go as well as I’d hoped, but not every workout can be a winner, and it’s important to always focus on the big picture.

Interwebs of Intrigue

New “feature” this week: A list of stories/videos that caught my attention over the the past seven days, generally but not always related to the theme of this blog.

Ugh, I’ve been slacking even with these weekly wrap-up posts. My apologies to what I assume are the 1-3 of you who actually read my ramblings. Let’s blame holidays and home projects as opposed to my laziness, k?

The lack of writing might also reflect what I’ve realized is an exceedingly pedestrian life as of late. No partying, traveling, or racing means I have to be proactive about doing blog-worthy things if I am to keep this up. Which again goes to the laziness, I suppose. Any who, here’s the Highlight Reel.

Life

That feeling when you go to eat breakfast and realize a piece of your tooth is missing…
Thankfully, I actually just broke off part of an old filling, so it wasn’t painful. And I found a fantastic dentist just a short walk from home. AND my dental insurance covered all but $25 of the repair and cleaning!

On a more positive note, more home projects off the list (which somehow doesn’t seem to be getting any shorter, but that’s for another post).

Gallery Wall

Rustic-ated plate covers

De-brassed door hardware

Booze

With more yet more progress around the house, I rewarded myself with a fancy ass cocktail on Sunday. Good bourbon makes for better drinks, so boo hoo to you if you think I’m wasting expensive whiskey.

As-yet-unnamed cocktail

Food

The Missus cooked! The Missus cooked! And it was fantastic! I wish every day were Valentine’s Day.

Ginger soy salmon with rice and veggies

Oh, and I tried a quesalupa, because I have a strange fascination with Frankenfoods. It actually wasn’t bad, although I don’t have any urge to rush back for another. Good thing, that, because we’re within walking distance of Taco Bell.

Quesalupa

Fitness

If you’re going to do a bunch of stiff-leg deadlifts, don’t plan on doing much for the next day or two. Thankfully I made this mistake Monday, so the entire week wasn’t ruined. Still in the process of dialing back my gym work so that I don’t require an entirely new wardrobe, and I miss it already. RIP, gainz

On the running front, I continue to make progress toward not being heavy and slow (now just heavy and not fast), which is very much welcome. I did intervals for the first time in ages, and to my delight I didn’t die or end up like Shalane Flanagan after the Olympic trials.

Booze

Another week of limited boozing, albeit with a bit of Super Bowl and finished-a-ton-of-projects indulgence on Sunday. On a related note, I made some progress on the long-term project of drastically reducing the number of open whiskey bottles that had accumulated over the previous year. Hooray, me! Although I may have opened two others…oops. At least I took a pretty picture

Food

We made a couple of The Missus’ tried and loved recipes this week, both of which came together nicely.

In addition, we experimented with a new recipe, BLT grilled cheese, and were quite satisfied with the outcome.

I also made my famous-among-friends oatmeal raisin cookies for a work thing but somehow forgot to document any of it. I’m a failure as a food blogger, essentially. Guess I’ll have to make more.

Fitness

Evidently, I can’t do three straight days of hard workouts combined with a lot of time on my feet and come away feeling refreshed. Who knew?

Yes, this was a week to remind me that I’m human. I actually heeded my body’s advice this time and kept to easy efforts until I felt ready for a real workout. To my utter amazement, the world kept turning, and I didn’t suddenly get fat! Rest may go against my very nature, but it’s not actually a bad thing.

What a week! Holiday-shortened weeks are supposed to be breezy, but this was anything but. I’ll put much of the blame on Virginia’s total lack of preparation for a 1″ snowfall, but more on that later.

Booze

Tuesday was supposed to mark the start of a more-or-less dry spell, as discussed earlier, but Snowzilla 2016 led to my drinking hiatus being put on hiatus. To commemorate the occasion, I decided to crack one of my most recent finds, a septuagenarian bottle of Seagrams VO. Despite nearly 75 years in a bottle, it’s still quite tasty! I’ve never before had a whiskey in which the nose/smell was so different from the palate/taste. $15 well spent.

Food

Practically nothing to report here. The prospect of being trapped at home for days and hilariously empty shelves simply put a damper on my kitchen ambitions. I threw together a basic chicken and veggies dish on Sunday, but we were otherwise eating deli meats and canned soup.

Fitness

With snow wreaking havoc on the roads, this was a week spent largely on the bike. I’m coming to terms with the fact that I just can’t put out the same power I as I could a few months ago. I know I’ll get there eventually; I just need patience and hard work. At least I’m good at one of those.

I’ve also come to terms with the fact that I can’t pack on any more mass. I already blew out the elbow of a suit jacket, and I had to have a seam repaired on a pair of trousers, so unless I want to buy a whole new wardrobe (I don’t), I need to work on maintaining rather than growing. The Missus is no doubt overjoyed.

On the positive side, it seems my run fitness is coming back around. A pair of tempo progression runs on the treadmill went much better than expected, with my comfortably holding a sub-7:00 pace for the first time in recent memory since before I was injured. I don’t put much stock in treadmill paces, even at the prescribed if scientifically invalidated 1% incline, but it’s encouraging nonetheless. Maybe a race is closer than previously thought.

Life

After a delightful date night with the Missus on Wednesday, we were treated to a three-hour traffic clusterfuck thanks to a minimal accumulation of snow and Virginia’s decision not to treat any of its roads. They didn’t even bother to salt I-66, the major East-West artery from DC, which pushed everyone onto side roads and snarled traffic well past midnight. After a minor fender bender that occurred when the driver in front of us slammed on his brakes and slid into a parked car, we eventually circled back to Ballston, parked the car in a garage overnight, and took the Metro home, arriving around 00:30.

Lesson: If there is so much as a hint of snow in the forecast, don’t drive.

With Snowzilla/SnoWayOut/SNoChanceInHell expected Friday, we stocked the fridge and prepared to hunker down. Thankfully, after over a month of being on the fritz, our refrigerator is working properly again. Two people living out of a “rented” mini fridge was not ideal, and I’m happy to see this season of College Life Redux come to an end.

Rather than just spend the weekend drinking, eating, and watching TV, The Missus and I resolved to make some headway on our various home renovation projects. She learned how to stain wood, and I began refinishing a cabinet. I also made my first attempt at an upcycled lamp shade, but it’s not quite ready for primetime. I think I’ve worked out the kinks in my process, though. More on that next week!

For many, the holidays are a typically indulgent period. This year, I was no exception. I ate a bit too much junk , drank a bit too often, and spent a bit more money than I should have. C’est la vie. I’m not terribly worried about the effects on my body or my bottom line—I generally workout and save enough that I haven’t suffered any obvious consequences—but I don’t like what the past few weeks have done to my discipline.

Whereas I can usually pass up having that first cookie, now it’s hard to even turn down a second. I’ve gotten all to accustomed to giving in to my impulses, and that, my friends, is the path to ruin. So until Valentine’s Day, it’s time to rein it in, to work on my willpower. If I have a drink, it will be because I’m out and about, not because it’s 5:00 and I’m pooped. If I have dessert, it will be shared at a nice restaurant, not a Nabisco impulse buy. And no snacking on the sofa, period. Basically, I’ll be a bit boring, but only for a few weeks.

When this is through, I expect I’ll once again be able to pass up that second cookie. Unless it’s really good. I mean, I’m not unreasonable.